Rockies Sign Greg Holland

1:38PM: Holland earns $6MM in salary and there is a $1MM buyout of his 2018 option, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitterlinks). If Holland either pitches in 50 games or finishes 30 games this season, the option vests into a $15MM player option for 2018 that Holland can either accept or reject in search of a larger multi-year deal on the open market. If the option doesn’t vest, it turns into a $10MM mutual option for 2018 that contains another $8MM in incentives.

9:55AM: The Rockies have landed one of the offseason’s most sought-after bullpen arms, as the club officially announced its one-year deal with right-hander Greg Holland. The contract also contains a vesting option for the 2018 season. Holland is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Holland will earn $7MM in guaranteed money in 2017, though he can earn substantially more in incentives that vary based on his role with the Rockies. Holland has $3MM worth of non-closing incentives in his contract and can earn up to $14MM next season if he serves as the Rockies’ closer. Presumably, the non-closing incentives are based on factors such as innings pitched and appearances, and the deal also contains bonuses for games finished.

The 31-year-old Holland missed all of the 2016 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery that was performed late in the 2015 campaign. Prior to that operation, however, he was one of the game’s top relievers and a key factor in the Royals’ return to prominence. From 2011-14, Holland tossed 256 1/3 innings of 1.86 ERA ball with 12.6 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 with a 44.4 percent ground-ball rate. Holland racked up 113 saves in that time and anchored the Royals’ bullpen in the 2014 postseason, throwing 15 innings and allowing one run with a 15-to-5 K/BB ratio.

A year later, when the Royals won the World Series, Holland watched from the dugout following his operation. He’d pitched to a 3.83 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 44 2/3 innings prior to going under the knife. Incredibly, at the time Holland’s injury was reported to the public, manager Ned Yost suggested that Holland had unknowingly suffered a tear of some degree in his UCL back in Aug. 2014, which would mean he pitched the entire 2015 campaign with a tear in the elbow. The Royals reportedly recommended medical examination on numerous occasions, though Holland declined. Presumably, the tear was minimal in nature at first, but it progressed to the point where it was termed a “significant” tear by the tail end of the 2015 season.

If Holland passes the Rockies’ physical, he’ll add to what’s been an active offseason for Rockies GM Jeff Bridich and the rest of the Colorado front office. Colorado has clearly been operating in a win-now capacity, as evidenced by the team’s signing of Ian Desmond to a five-year, $70MM contract (which cost them the No. 11 overall pick in the upcoming draft) and the addition of lefty Mike Dunn on a three-year, $19MM deal.

With the Rockies, Holland would likely be the favorite to pitch the ninth inning, though he’ll presumably have to prove healthy and effective enough to push past incumbent candidate Adam Ottavino. That duo and the newly signed Dunn will pair with holdovers Jake McGee, Jason Motte and Chad Qualls to comprise the relief corps for first-year Rockies manager Bud Black. Also in the mix for ’pen jobs in Denver will be lefty Chris Rusin and right-handers Jordan Lyles, Carlos Estevez and Miguel Castro.

While the addition of Holland certainly doesn’t make the Rockies an immediate contender, the team’s offseason maneuverings have improved the 2017 outlook. Not only will Desmond and Holland be bolstering the lineup and the pitching staff, but the Rox will receive full seasons from sophomores David Dahl, Trevor Story and Tyler Anderson, each of whom impressed in their rookie efforts this past season. Beyond that, it’s certainly plausible that emerging rotation leader Jon Gray will take another step forward, and the Rox have an intriguing blend of young and veteran arms to round out the rotation. That group includes Chad Bettis, Tyler Chatwood, German Marquez and Jeff Hoffman.

Holland was linked to about two-thirds of the league early in the offseason, but the number of teams interested in his services began to narrow over the course of the past few weeks. Most recently, the Rockies, Nationals and a yet-unreported “mystery” team were believed to be the three most serious suitors for Holland’s services. With Holland off the board, the Nationals will presumably have to look elsewhere to add an experienced arm to their ninth-inning mix.

Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan (Twitter link) was the first to report that the two sides were in agreement, with FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman tweeting earlier in the day that Holland and the Rockies were closing in on a deal. Passan also reported the financial details about the contract’s guaranteed money and the available incentives.

Sadly, the Rockies have ZERO history of trading players at the deadline, even though it’s a known strategy that all other clubs employ. Believe it or not, the ownership cares more about loyalty than logical roster management and future planning.

The pickings are mighty slim for closers in the free agent market with Greg Holland now off the table. The Nationals would have to trade for one and their best options seem to be the retooling Rays or rebuilding White Sox.

shut up he’ll do fine. teams don’t just look at era as an indication as to how they did. they look at k/9, BB/9 and other saber metrics casual fans like yourself would not understand or follow. era can be one of the most overrated stats in baseball.

era can be wrong because of many things. for example, team defence and range. if your playing with a bunch of Pablo Sandoval’s in the infield, do u really think they will have the range to get ground balls. it wouldn’t be errors because the players are just fat. same thing goes for ball parks, and relievers in particular, with the limited innings they pitch, they could pitch 10 amazing no hit innings, but have one inning where they give up 3 runs. era will be bad even if he’s pitched well. era is a bs stat sometimes.

teams who know ERA can be inflated do. thats how you find value. for example everyone wants the guy with a sub 3 era. but the guy with 9 k/9, 2 bb/9, low hr/9, who played in front of a crap D with bad BABIP luck which inflated his era? thats a candidate for an undervalued player.

His arm falling off could impact his future earnings. Why don’t we make sure his arm stays attached this year before planning his future. Also his ego/confidence could be hurt playing in Colorado. As a pitcher myself I’d probably steer clear of Denver if possible but I’m sure he took the best deal for him and I wish him the best of luck. He was a stud for my Royals.

I dont think a 6.34 era will be hard to judge….just like having a .205 batting is against the odds of hiding an actually useful batter. People can overlook the basic stats…thats ok…I go to advanced stats as well…but the truth really is that most times things like avg and era are telling us who really is the best. Where the advanced metrics are incredibly useful is on the nuts and bolts of actually winning. It’ll tell you a guy like Eric Hosmer isn’t as good as he appears by the eyeball test.

True, but that coin has a flip-side. The Rockies can and have built teams to score in Coors, but visitors also take advantage of the thin dry air. No lead is ever safe until the last out is recorded. I’m quite surprised that Holland chose Colorado as the place to show what he can do again. Even if you depend on park adjusted stats, that’s still the park where even the best pitchers get their ears boxed regularly.

Im surprised too…even if pitching to 3 batters mitigates a little of the Coors risk. Not just the park….but the health factor..thin air and potentially cold weather early. Be interesting to hear his response if its candid and not just “Im excited to pitch in the fine state of Colorado, and hopefully we can win for the great fans.”

In all seriousness….sometimes it does come down to the intangibles. Family in the area, etc. I know if I were choosing a team at this point some personal matters might sway my decision a bit potentially. My sister lost her husband on Thanksgiving. Shes raising my nephew alone now in Wisconsin. Milwaukee might make NO sense in any baseball way…but it’d have pull for me personally.

Maybe the Hollands are comfortable with their income on some level and all things being fairly equal would like to live on the front range a year or two. He’s made more money already than most ever will.

Im not saying ANY of this plays a factor…but it can’t be totally discounted either

This is a good signing for both sides. Col takes a gamble at a potential elite closer, have they released numbers yet? A one year w vesting option seems they take on little risk. And as for Holland being “dumb because he wants to rebuild his career” thats just a dumb take, He gets a short contract if he stays healthy and the 2nd year vests he still has a chance for another 2-3 year contract on the other side of this, and its not like other teams dont realize what Coors does to pitching numbers. If his k/bb ratio is good and his velo is there he’s going to do just fine. Col is a fringe team and they might have just shored up the back end of their bullpen

Mlb front offices are just a bit more intelligent than this I believe. Good stuff pitches anywhere…bad stuff turns into a flaming meteor in Coors. He doesnt have to face more than 3 batters…face a lineup more than once. Coors just doesnt allow for mistakes.

Not so much the non-contender issue as the notoriously difficult pitching environment at Coors and a rotation that demands a lot from the bullpen. Not the best formula for rebuilding market value. We don’t know the full terms yet but I am surprised he did not get at least similar one year + option offers from other teams.

Their cheap ownership? It’d be a cold day in hell before the Wilpons gave a guy closer money to only pitch part of a season. While they typically shop in the scratch and dent section, this particular option was probably too expensive for their small market team mentality.

Possible good news for the White Sox with the Nationals once again losing out on a free agent closer option this offseason. This should increase the chances of rekindling the trade talks regarding David Robertson that were initially discussed during the Adam Eaton negotiations.

The signing of Holland by the Rockies is yet another indication that the front office plans on being a serious contender in 2017. To enhance their chances, perhaps they will also engage the White Sox more seriously in their pursuit of Jose Quintana to bolster their starting rotation. The Rockies would certainly have centerpiece options in young OF David Dahl or top SS/2B prospect Brendan Rodgers to entice the White Sox.

Dont like Quintana nearly as much as Chris Archer at elevation. Dont get me wrong….Quintana is very solid….but a high flyball rate and low k rate arent optimal. I’d want atleast the k rate to offset contact

Jose Quintana can’t match Chris Archer’s strikeout rate per nine innings but he isn’t too shabby, especially in his last 3 seasons with 8.0, 7.7 and 7.8 rates. “Q” also has better command with fewer walks per 9 than Archer and has managed to give up fewer HR/9 despite pitching half his games in a far more hitter friendly park. Quintana’s has a 0.8 HR/9 career rate compared to Archer’s 0.9 metric. The gap last season wasn’t even more pronounced with Archer allowing 1.3 HR’s per 9 innings compared to Quintana’s 1.0 figure.

Both pitchers have been plenty durable over the past 3 seasons but Quintana has been far more consistent. In addition to pitching in a homer friendly park, “Q” has been negatively affected by a poor defense in Chicago while Archer has benefited from better glove work behind him, especially with the elite play in CF from Kevin Kiermaier.

Nationals ought to be calling rick Hahn right about now begging for Robertson/Jones. The closer market is dry and their bullpen needs go beyond just that… I think they screwed up big waiting on the market…

Any chance for even a glimmer of interest with the white sox and boom we end up with a post from you trying to peddle robertson/quintana

The reason that quintana doesn’t make a ton of sense for colorado is because they play half their games in coors where a pitcher who largely depends on contract control is *likely* less effective. He could also see a large change to his pitches than someone like archer who is mostly fb/slider.

Quintana is a really good pitcher, it just doesn’t make sense for the rockies to give up as much talent to acquire him with the possibility that he is less effective in their home park. With that said, the rockies seem to do exactly the opposite of what makes sense, so they will probably trade for him.

In Coors Field is not all about the home run, it’s about who gives up less fly balls because that huge outfield turns fly balls into doubles and triple that are outs everywhere else. If yu have a choice, go with the groundball pitcher.

You’re comparing Quintana and Archer straight up. Im not really saying that Quintana in a blind test might not be the preference. Im talking specifically throwing half their starts in Coors. Its not just HR….Coors has a massive outfield…something Chicago does not. In Coors Id want to minimize contact. Truthfully…NEITHER is the absolute perfect starter there. I’d want a high K rate AND high GB%….but doesnt appear Toronto is dealing Stroman.

These are all good points about Quintana and Coors Field, but when the weather warms up, US Cellular or whatever it is called is just as much as a “band box” as Coors Field. If you can simply PITCH, the ballpark you play in is overrated!

I’m saying Q doesn’t make sense for the rockies and that you don’t need to post the same stuff, multiple times, in every single topic that is even tangentially related to the white sox trade assets. You’re getting to the point of braves fans last summer trying to pawn off Teheran in every thread.

I wont even go look….but I can tell you he gets rocked. But Id STILL take him for the Rockies in a hypothetical scenario…great pitchers stay great pitchers anywhere….maybe not at sea level form…but still excellent. To me there must also be something to the quick adjustment visiting players have to make when they fly in for a quick series. I wouldnt discount a slight psychological spookiness with Coors as well.

The White Sox are in a clear rebuild mode with numerous attractive veteran assets in which to trade, including Jose Quintana, Jose Abreu and Nate Jones who might be considered premium due to their team friendly deals, production and still being in the prime years of their careers. Why wouldn’t they be of interest to fans of most baseball teams in comment sections when the notion of trades or player comparisons comes up?

The trade possibilities with the White Sox are far from the hypothetical ones that many fans bring up regarding players like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. With Chicago, a trade of any of their veterans is very real and will most certainly happen in the very near future.

Good signing for Colorado. Dont know terms yet, but if he pitches well and they are in the hunt….hes valuable…. and they still have a valuable trade chip…or he walks after the season. Its alright unless Colorado is on the hook for that second season as per his reported demands.

Still need to get Desmond off of 1B and sign a 1B…get a frontline starter.

How much young talent would the Rockies be willing to give up for two White Sox All-Star’s still in their prime years and with affordable team control in 1B Jose Abreu and SP Jose Quintana?

Clearly they would have to start with a package that included both OF David Dahl and top SS/2B prospect Brendan Rodgers. Ian Desmond could then move to LF in place of Dahl while Rodgers is currently blocked by Trevor Story at SS and N.L. batting champ D.J. LeMahieu at 2B. What say you?

Other people have mentioned a trade that included both Quintana and Abreu to the Rockies, but Bridich has said on several occasions that Dahl is off the table in any trade talks. If the White Sox wanted to center the trade around Blackmon, Rodgers and some other prospects for Abreu and Quintana then those two teams may be able to get together on a trade.

I really like Abreau in Colorado…he drives to the gaps so well. Im not sold on Quintana at Coors..like I said above. I dont think Rodgers is blocked. LaMehieu only has a year left on his deal…and Rodgers hasn’t made it out of A ball yet. Im for freeing Desmond up to allow freedom for a trade….but why not just sign Chris Carter and use pieces for a frontline starter. I do think we’ll see Colorado make a KC/James Shields for Wil Myers type of deal at some point.

abreu has seen a consistent decrease in slg, wOBA, and wRC+. He’s increased his ifb rate each year and has increased soft contact while decreasing hard contact. That fits with him making more contact each year on pitches outside the zone. It seems like pitchers have learned what he’ll chase

Who did Abreu have protecting him in the Chicago lineup during his 3 seasons?

Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche and a below average Todd Frazier last season. He would absolutely rake in Coors Field… or even in Houston in another expanded Quintana/Abreu trade I suggested with the Astros earlier this week.

Btw-Abreu also had some personal situations impacting his performance with the White Sox. In his rookie season in a new country he was surrounded by fellow Cuban friends Dayan Viciedo and Alexei Ramirez who recruited him heavily to join the club when he was an international free agent. Viciedo was released before his second season began while Ramirez contract option was not renewed last year. Abreu also had a spectacular second half last year when he was reunited with his son in Chicago last July. We are all human beings but most of us can’t relate to Abreu’s personal situation. Just saying…

I wont resort to the other argument…but I will say that declaring Abreu as having eroding skills might be just a tad premature. Hes also playing on arbitration now. I just like his skill set for Coors is all….its all dependent on cost to acquire…its a hypothetical.

The funny thing I find in many of those that are deep into sabremetrics is how closed minded they become over subtle nuance. They get to be as close minded as the old school baseball types they loathe. Some of these stats…batting order construction…etc….were talking about 1-2 run differential a SEASON.

I don’t feel the “win now” description is necessarily accurate. The Rockies have a decent farm system that they haven’t really tapped yet on the trade market. They made a couple of signings after stating they would increase payroll. Win now, in my mind, means they deal Dahl or Rodgers for pitching. There has to be a term that exists between “sell” and “win now”.

Desmond was very strange…and I havent bought that the real intent was to play him at 1B. Im suspicious they want to extend CarGo and dont want to block his eventual move to 1B by signing someone long term there. I think Colorado has a plan…it just takes luck and skill to pull it off. We’ll see if signing Holland triggers another attempted move for them.

The only reason I can think on Desmond is his defensive versatility. I just dont but they longterm want Desmond there. He gave them options. Why punt the draft pick?? Perhaps because you know you’ll be gutting the farm system soon on deals anyway…..who knows

so they’re gonna waste the first and likely most athletic year of the contract by playing him at 1b so they can have 4 years of versatility as he continues to age? That just doesn’t seem very smart to me. And if you’re gutting your system soon, wouldn’t it make more sense to keep the pick and draft at 11 so you can trade that player?

I agree with you that him at 1b isn’t/wasn’t their plan. And if their plan was to sign him this year and then move him to the of next year and resign cargo that doesn’t make a ton of sense either because cargo’s bat doesn’t really play well at 1b either.

Could be way off, but I can’t help but think they signed desmond with the expectation that they could move one of their ofs for more than any team ended up offering.

I really dont know. I suspicion they went rear end backwards with Desmond. Unless they think they know something about Desmond. Punting the #11 would have made sense IF it had given them a negotiating advantage on someone like Bautista or another fa that had a constricted market because of the QA. The chance of them getting the value from an 11 pick that theyd have gotten from Desmond/Bautista or Trumbo? would be very minimal.

I dont think they are done. I think we see them very active throughout the year. But this is what I’D do with the Rockies..and they like to throw some curveballs. Good gracious! Go short on Chris Carter…move Desmond someplace and deal for a starter. Give Holland something to save. You either KEEP building the mlb roster or you stall out.

Jerry DiPoto would have traded for Chris Archer AND Jose Quintana by now..lol. Sonny Gray….who knows.

Jose Abreu to Rockies for Dahl and McMahon. Move Desmond back to OF where his talents are best suited and bring in a guy who could club 40 HRs there from 1B. Sox get need at OF and lottery prospect. Thoughts?

They don’t get Rodgers AND Pint. That’s two top-20 type prospects, and Q’s not worth that. If the Rox are dealing for Q (and that’s a big if because he doesn’t really fit Coors) I don’t think they offer either one, but if so only one.

Probably a no on Pint, but Freeland would be a possibility.
Considering you are talking about the Rockies #1 and consensus top 10 overall prospect in Rodgers, #2-4 Rockies prospect and consensus top 75 prospect in Tapia (depending on the scouting service), and another top 10 Rockies prospect in Freeland (#6-8 depending on the scouting service), that should be more than enough for Quintana plus another player. Not so sure the Rockies have a need for Jennings now. Seems like they would be more interested in Abreu so they could move Desmond to the OF where he belongs and one more mid-level prospect like a Justus who has incredible upside but has control problems or a guy like Tinoco who has the ceiling of a mid-rotation starter but has a higher floor than Justus could get a trade done for both Quintana and Abreu.
Making that trade pretty much makes trading Blackmon or Cargo a necessity. Blackmon would bring the better package right now, so that would make more sense.

All I know is someone in Oakland WAY overpaid for Santiago Casilla. Same base salary basically. Holland is risk…but so is Casilla. The deal I love went under the radar, but Cincinnati got Drew Storen for 2.5. That’s solid if hes healthy.

Interesting signing, my first inclination was to think he wasn’t smart signing in the ballpark where Nolan Arrendo can post a 1.030OPS at home and have that translate to just a 132WRC+ but I was surprised last year seeing how effective Jon Grey’s slider played in Coors. I know Holland has a nasty slider but it’s not as hard as Grey’s 90mph pitch which may negate the “Coors Effect” of ruining breaking balls.

What do you think a 2 seam FB does? It has everything to do with how a pitcher uses finger pressure against one of the seams that creates the desired rotation on the ball that makes a fastball run, cut, or sink. A slick ball with only leather and no seams would be impossible to make break.

Two seam with fingers across the narrow and not the horseshoe. Sinks naturally…some have a knack for it better than others. Dont have to rely on breaking it off and risk hanging one in Coors. I had a pretty good one in my day. Good one is 7ish off the 4 seam. Orel Hershiser was my man.

Sure, Ubaldos profile changed….but take him in 2007 as a model of how to succeed at elevation. High K high gb%. Sure…its like rubbing a lamp and trying to get a genie to grant a wish…but it can be done. I believe the bulk just has to come from the system….not vets who have to relearn to pitch in Denver.

Pretty much what I thought he’d get and why i thought he’d be amazing in the Cubs bullpen while being relatively cheap for how good he could possibly be. Said a 1 year deal worth $7M…. max 2 year deal for $14M. Pretty much what he got. I was told I was crazy and valuing him too low at the time. I am tooting my own horn right now.

Imagine,

Carl Edwards, Pedro Strop, Greg Holland, Hector Rondon, and Wade Davis as the backend….. sh**, at that point that is pretty much the entire bullpen aside from a couple lefty specialists and Justin Grimm. would’ve been NASTY.

7m is basically hedging hes a setup man…anything more and hes worth what he ends up getting paid. Fairly structured deal from what I see. Still like Storen in Cincinnati for 2.5….but Santiago on multi years for 6 per in Oakland…not getting that one.

Yup. It’s looking like the only team in the NLW with no hope of competing this season is the Padres. And before you ask, without as many key injuries and with bounce-back seasons from Grienke and Miller, Arizona could very well be a force in the division.

Player preference? I don’t know that…but it IS one thing we generally aren’t privy to. Some players take open bidding….some might let their agents work the phones with some teams. Just saying its not a pond where teams might have equal chance to catch fish.

don’t understand holland signing bad place to play worse place to pitch. After surgery you need big park because velocity is not consistent as well as location. Also Denver is worst place to try to relearn breaking pitches. I assume Denver over paid for him.

If i understand the vesting option correctly, that’s an extraordinary deal he’s struck for himself. $8M guaranteed, $23M guaranteed if he just manages to get in to 50 games, even if he’s not effective enough to be used in closing/high leverage situations. The Rockies had three pitchers last year with over 50 appearance, and another four in the forties.

According to 104.3 The Fan, Holland’s contract is $7 million guaranteed. $6 million for 2017 with a $1 million option buyout. The option vests if he both has 50 appearances and 30 GF. Regardless of whether it vests or not, the Rockies can choose to buy out the option year for $1 million. If it vests Holland will get the choice of whether or not to accept $15 million for 2018 or opt out and go for a multi-year deal. If it doesn’t vest then it becomes a mutual option for 2018 for $10 million with $8 million in incentives. Great deal for both sides. If he vests and pitches like he did before his injury then he is well worth $15 million in 2018 when you consider the deals Jansen and Chapman signed.

So it’s a player option only, then? If that’s the case, he’s got a chance to really cash-in,
by opting out (if he regains his former excellence, in 2017) and going back on the
market for a potential multiple tens of millions guaranteed.

Great signing for COL. Either he returns back to form they lengthen their bullpen and cut the starters inning down. Then if COL is competing they can keep him for the entire year, or if they are not have that $7M go towards prospects in a trade. If he flops then its not too much wasted in a gamble.